New trait for pest control

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Now that the EPA has given registration approval to Syngenta's new Agrisure corn trait event, MIR162, the company has given the trait a name: Agrisure Viptera. It will be included in stacks with the Agrisure CB/LL trait for the control of lepidopteran corn pests.

The MIR162 event uses a new proprietary technology from Syngenta that features a novel insecticidal protein called Vegetative Insecticidal Protein 3A (Vip3A). In Syngenta trials, the trait has been shown to provide enhanced control of a wide range of lepidopteran corn pests, including corn earworm, western bean cutworm, black cutworm and fall armyworm.

The EPA approval is one of the major regulatory hurdles the trait must clear. Pending remaining approvals from the USDA, EPA and FDA, as well as approval from key import markets, hybrids with the new trait could be available by spring 2010.

Viptera is Syngenta's third trait in the insect-control marketplace and will compete with Herculex and YieldGard products.